Our Montaintop Wedding - proud

Wowza... it's a mere 4 days till Christmas?! Where has the fall gone? It is crazy to think that a year ago today, I was on the ski-hill in Austria completing my final day of testing, before packing up to return home... and now, 12 months later, I am married, I have finished my PhD, I have moved cities, and I am hours away from buying (hopefully... fingers crossed!) a new house!! Yep, lots has happened, EVERYTHING has changed, and it truly amazes me every day how the body can sustain stress, love, adventure, heartache, excitement, anticipation, and more stress, and still feel great!! We are lucky!

Our wedding day, as you all know, was blessed enough to have some rain, but we were also lucky enough to be in the mountains, which meant that a 30 minute drive was enough to bring out the sun, stop the rain, and produce some new, dramatic backdrops for our photo shoot! We were still relaxed, and super grateful to have some time without the rain, but the emotion I was feeling here was pure pride...

We arrived at our next location to find a dirt biking track, which let me tell you, made my hubs veerrryyy happy! He jumped out of the jeep, and immediately flagged down one of the bikers, who was more than happy to allow my man-in-black to do this:

Yep, my man figured it was a perfect idea to go dirt biking in the mud in his black suit even before we were married... mmmm, muddy suit in the ceremony? Not quite what I had in mind!

So I admit, I was apprehensive about his carefree spirit shining through on the bike, but come on, how else do you react when you see your soon-to-be-husband with the hugest smile on his face, doing something he freakin' loves (hello, all things with motors he loves!), after months and months of helping me plan a day that would meet and exceed all of my dreams... well, I was proud that he was loving this day as much as he was, because it was his day too of course!!

And a few minutes later, after a quick 4x4 to our actual photo location, he was back to business, bringing out his inner Tyson Beckford!

And I mean really, my man in black, on his wedding day, minutes after dirt biking, looking as handsome as this...

and here's that smile I love...

Yep, I was downright proud of my man! Proud of the fact that he was mine, but even more so, proud of the fact that he is his own man, he knows what makes him happy and goes for it, all the while moving mountains to make me happy!

We really had come such a long way... trials and tribulations, peaks and valleys, highs and lows... it was only fitting that on this day, we were surrounded by the mountains and valleys that mimic our relationship so perfectly. And just like the mountains, no matter how rugged, moody, and unpredictable they can be, the beauty of our relationship, and the mountains we celebrated it in, is undeniable. I was (am) so proud at where we had come... and where we continue to move toward!!

photo credits to the uber-talented, and equally FUN Kevan and Duane of [6:8] Photography.